John Husselbee: Finding real yield

UK dividends down

clock • 4 min read

With lingering concerns remaining about equity dividends, which halved in 2020, plus growing risk and generally lower yields available from bonds, John Husselbee says income seeking investors are understandably wondering about options for 2021 and beyond

Looking at equities, UK dividends may not return to pre-Covid levels until 2025 or later, with figures from Link Group revealing that the distributions from UK plc last year, at £61.9bn, were the lowest annual total since 2011. The make-up of the UK market left it harder hit than other countries as most of the pay-out comes from a handful of large oil, mining and banking companies. Income seekers can obviously look to overseas equities but, broadly speaking, there is a clear need for more diversified sources of yield. Diversification is vital throughout the economic cycle, whether buildi...

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